Small forwards

This week I’ve been breaking down Boston’s offseason possibilities at every position, starting with the point guards on Sunday and the shooting guards on Monday. Today I’ll take a look at the small forwards:

Player development:

The incumbent small forward on this team is Wally Szczerbiak, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be around next season. Although he has been hampered by a nagging knee injury since he was traded to the Celtics, Wally has shown flashes of what he can do in his brief stint in Boston. Wally should be the starter at the three spot next year.

But who backs him up? Gerald Green is the small forward of the future for this Celtics team, but will he be ready to play 20-25 minutes next season? I’ve watched him go through pregame drills with the coaches many times this season, and there is no question that this kid has tremendous offensive talent. In fact, he may have the best looking jump shot on the team. And we all know about his athleticism.

Will Gerald Green be a contributor for the Celtics next season? (AP)

But to me, Green is probably about two years away from being a good player in this league, and that’s not a knock on him at all. He’s 20 years old for crying out loud. It took Jermaine O’Neal, one of the best players in the NBA to come directly from high school, almost five years to develop into an elite player. It took Tracy McGrady at least three years. Gerald Green may contribute to this team next year, but he will not be their savior. Not yet.

I know what you’re thinking: what about Ryan Gomes? Gomes considers himself a power forward, and his play on the court confirms that. I’ll talk about Ryan tomorrow.

The draft:

There’s no need for the Celtics to use their first-round pick on a small forward with Green waiting in the wings, but they could shore up this position with a second-round pick. A guy that comes to mind for me is Steve Novak from Marquette, who at 6-foot-10 is one of the best three-point shooters in college basketball. If the Celtics don’t take a scorer (a J.J. Redick, for example) in the first round, they should consider a shooter like Novak late in the draft.

Another player to look for late in the draft is Georgetown’s Brandon Bowman, who at 6-9’ is one of the more versatile and athletic small forwards in the draft. Bowman might provide some defense and a little scoring off the bench for an NBA team.

Free agency:

If the Celtics are going to pick up a small forward via free agency, they should look for one thing: defense. A guy like Adrian Griffin from Dallas comes to mind as someone who knows his role and can get the job done. The Celtics don’t need anything fancy here.

I haven’t been mentioning trade possibilities in any of these posts, and that’s because they deserve a post of their own in a couple of weeks.

Check back tomorrow for some thoughts on the power forwards.